title: Health anxiety disorders in older adults: conceptualizing complex conditions in late life.
abstract: Health anxiety disorders (e.g., hypochondriasis) are prevalent but understudied in older adults. Existing research suggests that severe health anxiety has a late age of onset, perhaps because of comorbidity with physical health conditions that are more likely to occur with aging. Despite being under diagnosed in later life due to a lack of age-appropriate diagnostic criteria, significant positive associations with age suggest that health anxiety disorders are more prevalent in older than younger adults. Preliminary research also highlights the complexity of these disorders in older adults and the potential importance of medical morbidity as a risk factor. This review explores the complexities of health anxiety disorders in later life with a focus on understanding defining features, prevalence rates, correlates, assessment, diagnosis, and treatment. We offer a theoretical model of the development of severe health anxiety among older adults to encourage further research on this important and under-studied topic.
authors.affiliation: University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Electronic address: umelgaba@cc.umanitoba.ca.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: El-Gabalawy
authors.forename: C S
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Mackenzie
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Thibodeau
authors.forename: G J G
authors.initials: GJ
authors.lastname: Asmundson
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Sareen
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging / Q000523:psychology*; D001008:Anxiety Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D039721:Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D006998:Hypochondriasis / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015995:Prevalence
keywords: Health anxiety; Hypochondriasis; Older adults; Review